Connect to Todoist Data in JRuby

JRuby is a high-performance, stable, fully threaded Java implementation of the Ruby programming language. The CData JDBC Driver for Todoist makes it easy to integrate connectivity to live Todoist data in JRuby. This article shows how to create a simple JRuby app that connects to Todoist data, executes a query, and displays the results.

Configure a JDBC Connection to Todoist Data

Before creating the app, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData JDBC Driver for Todoist\lib).

JRuby natively supports JDBC, so you can easily connect to Todoist and execute SQL queries. Initialize the JDBC connection with the getConnection function of the java.sql.DriverManager class.

Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Todoist Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Todoist.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Todoist (see below).

Todoist API Profile Settings

To authenticate to Todoist, and connect to your own data or to allow other users to connect to their data, you can use the OAuth standard.

First, register an OAuth application with Todoist. To do so, go to App Management Console, create a new application and configure a valid OAuth redirect URL. Your Oauth application will be assigned a client id and a client secret.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
• InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
• OAuthClientId: Set this to the client_id that is specified in you app settings.
• OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the client_secret that is specified in you app settings.
• CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI that is specified in your app settings

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Todoist JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar

Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for Todoist:

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Todoist.apip;Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;

Create a JRuby App with Connectivity to Todoist Data

Create a new Ruby file (for example: APISelect.rb) and open it in a text editor. Copy the following code into your file:

require 'java'
require 'rubygems'
require 'C:/Program Files/CData/CData JDBC Driver for Todoist 2018/lib/cdata.jdbc.api.jar'

url = "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Todoist.apip;Authscheme=OAuth;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackUrl=your_callback_url;"
conn = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
stmt = conn.createStatement
rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT Id, Priority FROM Tasks")
while (rs.next) do
 puts rs.getString(1) + ' ' + rs.getString(2)
end

With the file completed, you are ready to display your Todoist data with JRuby. To do so, simply run your file from the command line:

jruby -S APISelect.rb

Writing SQL-92 queries to Todoist allows you to quickly and easily incorporate Todoist data into your own JRuby applications. Download a free trial today!